44 Proven Ways Cell Phones Can Cause Cancer

“The very linear relationship between cell phone usage and brain tumor incidence is disturbing and certainly needs further epidemiological evaluation,“ concluded a U.S. Study on Cell Phones and Brain Tumors.

Cell phones emit microwave radio-frequency radiation. Fact.
This radiation has the ability to penetrate our bodies. Fact.
Our governments do virtually nothing to protect us from these dangers. Fact.

And yet there is strong evidence, including multiple peer reviewed studies, to indicate that cell phones cause cancer and other diseases. Take a look for yourself at these facts. But first let’s just consider what cancer is.

Cancer And DNA

“Cancer is a term used for diseases in which abnormal cells divide without control and are able to invade other tissues…..all cancers begin in cells……cells grow and divide in a controlled way to produce more cells as they are needed to keep the body healthy. When cells become old or damaged, they die and are replaced with new cells. However, sometimes this orderly process goes wrong. The genetic material (DNA) of a cell can become damaged or changed, producing mutations that affect normal cell growth and division. When this happens, cells do not die when they should and new cells form when the body does not need them.”

So cancer typically involves abnormal cell division and DNA damage and in some cases cells may form a mass of tissue called a tumor.

Types Of Brain Tumors

In the studies done to date cell phone radiation exposures are principally linked to two types of brain tumor, gliomas and acoustic neuromas.

Gliomas, a type of tumor that starts in the brain or spine are typically malignant. Gliomas are particularly deadly. Most people survive only 1 to 3 years after diagnosis.

3. Tumor Risk on Cell Phone Side of Head: Again from the Interphone Study – currently the big daddy of cell phone radiation studies it being the largest and longest study on the link between cell phones and brain tumors – it also found, “tumors were more likely to occur on the side of the head most used for calling”.

4. Harmful Association Between Cell Phone Radiation and Tumors: A review of 23 epidemiological studies by 7 scientists on the link between cell phones and cancer concluded, “harmful association“. One of the reports authors commenting the study results said, “although as a whole the data varied, among the 10 higher quality studies, we found a harmful association between phone use and tumor risk. The lower quality studies, which failed to meet scientific best practices, were primarily industry funded.”

5. Increased Risk For Glioma and Acoustic Neuroma: the studies performed by the Hardell Research Group are widely regarded as being amongst the best. This recent study finds, “A consistent pattern of increased risk for glioma and acoustic neuroma associated with use of wireless phones.” These findings are consistent with their earlier studies.

6. Temporal Lobe & Glioma Risk: A recent French study found evidence of an increased risk of glioma and temporal lobe tumors. The study found that, “risks were higher for gliomas, temporal tumours, occupational and urban mobile phone use. “. According to EMF watchdog Powerwatch this is an important paper, “that confirms existing studies and which should help move the IARC RF evaluation strongly towards a Group 2A – ‘probable human carcinogen’“.

7. Increased Risk of Acoustic Neuroma in Long-Term Users of Cell Phones: A recent study on 790,000 middle aged women in the UK found that, “women who used cell phones for ten or more years were two-and- a-half times more likely to develop an acoustic neuroma. Their risk of acoustic neuroma increased with the number of years they used cell phones.“

9. Brain Tumor Risk is Higher on ‘Cell Phone’ Side of Head: A research paper that reviewed 11 studies found, “a link between prolonged cell phone usage and the development of an ipsilateral [same side of head as cell phone] brain tumor”.

10. Meningioma: This Swedish study looked at adult brain tumor cases diagnosed over a two year period. Although the study concluded that, “no conclusive evidence of an association between use of mobile and cordless phones and meningioma was found“. The studies authors did say, “an indication of increased risk was seen in the group with highest cumulative use“.

11. Malignant Brain Tumors: Recent work by Hardell looked at long-term use of mobile and cordless phones. In conclusion it was found that, “this study confirmed previous results of an association between mobile and cordless phone use and malignant brain tumours. These findings provide support for the hypothesis that RF-EMFs play a role both in the initiation and promotion stages of carcinogenesis“.

Other Cancers And Tumors

12. Cancer of the Pituitary Gland: The pituitary gland, considered by many to be the “master gland” of the body, is a pea sized organ located in the middle of the base of the brain that produces hormones that play a major role in regulating vital body functions and general well-being. This study (already referenced above) also found that,

“the risk of cancer of the pituitary gland more was more than twice as high among women who used a cell phone for less than five years as compared to never users“.

13. Thyroid Cancer: The thyroid gland is situated in the neck. Using a cell phone against your ear exposes your thyroid to cell phone radiation. A recent Israeli study observing that, “the incidence of thyroid cancer has been on the rise in Israel for more than a decade which matches the rise in the use of cellphones” collected human thyroid cells from healthy patients and subjected them to radiation. The study found, “evidence of changes in thyroid cells in response to electromagnetic radiation”.

14. Melanoma Risk: Melanoma is a cancer that starts in a certain type of skin cell. A Swedish study found “a very clear association between increasing use of mobile phones and increasing rates of head melanoma [ ] in Nordic countries“.

15. Stem Cell Cancer: In a controversial US study on 29 cases of neuroepithelial tumors, cell phone users accounted for 11 of them. These initial results indicated a near tripling in the risk of neuroepithelial tumors through cell phone use. The published results were revised to reflect a doubling of risk and then reported as not ‘statistically significant’.

16. Oral Cancer: An Israeli study on 460 cases of parotid gland tumors found, “based on the largest number of benign PGT patients reported to date, our results suggest an association between cellular phone use and PGTs [parotid gland tumors].” The parotid is the salivary gland near the cheek where many users hold their cell phone.

17. Parotid Malignant Tumors: Another Israeli study analyzed deaths as recorded on the National Cancer Registry over a 36 year period found, “the total number of parotid gland cancers in Israel increased 4-fold from 1970 to 2006 , whereas other major salivary gland cancers remained stable“.

18. Leukaemia: A comprehensive review of over a dozen studies including studies on exposures from cell tower radiation, TV and Radio broadcast towers concluded, “cancer, especially brain tumour and leukaemia, but all other cancers also“.

19. Lymph Node Cancer: In an Australian study one hundred mice were exposed to RF radiation for two 30-minute periods per day for up to 18 months. The authors called the increased incidence of lymphoma “highly significant”. They added that “it is very unlikely that the faster onset of cancer was due to chance“.

20. Multifocal Breast Cancer:American researchers studied four young women with breast cancer. They found that, “all patients regularly carried their smartphones directly against their breasts in their brassieres for up to 10 hours a day, for several years, and developed tumors in areas of their breasts immediately underlying the phones“.

21. Eye Cancer: A German Study has established a link between uveal melanoma and cell phone radiation and similar exposures. The study “found an elevated risk for exposure to radiofrequency-transmitting devices“. Another study found ocular symptoms and sensations in long term users of mobile phones.

22. Diverse Cancerous Tumors: A Brazilian Study established a direct link between various cancer deaths such as tumors in the prostate, breast, lung, kidneys and liver in Brazil’s third largest city, and cell phone tower radiation exposures. The study found that, “more than 81 percent of people who die in Belo Horizonte by specific types of cancer live less than 500 meters away from the 300 identified cell phone antennas in the city“.

Source.
This same study also lists more than a dozen other research papers that have found a link between different cancers and cell phone/cell tower radiation exposures.

Cell Phone Subscriptions And Brain Tumors

23. Cell Phone Subscription Link to Brain Tumors: A U.S. study analyzed the number of cell phone subscriptions and brain tumors in nineteen US states, they concluded,

“the very linear relationship between cell phone usage and brain tumor incidence is disturbing and certainly needs further epidemiological evaluation.“

24. Brain Cancer Incidence Increases Over Time (U.S): another U.S. study of brain cancer incidence trends in relation to cell phone use in the United States found, “there was a statistically significant increasing trend between 1992 and 2006 among females but not among males.The recent trend in 20–29-year-old women was driven by a rising incidence of frontal lobe cancers“.

25. Brain Cancer Incidence Increases Over Time (Europe): Studies carried out in Norway, Finland and the U.K. have identified a similar trend of an increase in the incidence of brain cancer over time. In the UK study the incidence of malignant brain tumors close to where you hold your phone was highlighted.

Source: Mobile Phone Use and Cancer Risk – Research on a Group 2B Carcinogen. Joel M. Moskowitz Ph.D.

Other Effects On the Brain

26. Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB) Permeability: The BBB is a membrane which prevents toxic materials from the blood from entering the brain. It was first discovered in 1975 that RF radiation causes the BBB to leak, since then at least a dozen laboratories around the world have corroborated this effect. There’s no consensus on the link between BBB damage and cancer but some studies elude to this.

27. Brain Cell Loss: A Turkish study on adult female rats that were exposed to a 900 MHz electromagnetic field found that, “EMF exposure caused a significant decrease of the…….cell number…… additionally, cell loss can be seen……“. In their conclusions the researchers drew parallels between these exposures and teenagers’ brains that are exposed to cell phone radiation.

30. Texting Affects Memory: An Australian study on young adolescents found “students who reported making or receiving more voice or SMS calls per week, and in particular more of both, demonstrated shorter response times on learning tasks, but less accurate working memory”.

DNA Damage

One way cancer and other diseases are believed to develop is when the DNA (genetic information) in a cell becomes damaged. This damage mutates the DNA. There are many studies linking cell phone radiation exposures to different types of DNA damage.

32. Various Genetic Effects: An Austrian study analyzed the results of 101 different published articles on the effects of radio frequency EMFs on DNA. The study concluded that, “there is ample evidence that RF-EMF can alter the genetic material of exposed cells“.

33. Increased Rates of Micronuclei: Micronuclei proliferation indicates a type of DNA damage strongly associated with cancer.A Brazilian study found that, “electromagnetic field irradiation [low level cell phone type exposures] during pregnancy leads to an increase in erythrocytes micronuclei incidence in rat offspring“. Several studies have found increased rates of micronuclei in the body following exposures to RF radiation.

34. Heat Shock Proteins (HSPs) Production Decreased: A U.S. study exposed chick embryo’s to RF radiation. They concluded that, “this EMF-induced decrease in HSP70 levels and resulting decline in cytoprotection suggests a mechanism by which daily exposure (such as might be experienced by mobile phone users) could enhance the probability of cancer and other diseases“.

38. Genotoxic Effects: the Schwarz study exposed human cells to 1,950 MHz UMTS. It concluded that “UMTS exposure may cause genetic alterations in some but not in all human cells in vitro.”

39. Neurotransmitters Impacted: this Bavarian study followed 60 people over one and a half years following the installation of a new cell phone base station in their village. The study concluded that, “the effects showed a dose-response relationship“, that it had “occurred well below current limits for technical RF radiation exposures” and that these effects have “great relevance for health and [are] well known to damage human health in the long run“. In other words the more people were exposed to cell phone type radiation the bigger the impact on their health.

40. Chromosome Damage: a Belgian study reviewed 16 expert gene monitoring studies from around the world. In 13 of the 16 independent studies performed worldwide it was found that, “RF-exposed individuals have increased frequencies of genetic damage (e.g., chromosomal aberrations)“.

41. Central Nervous System: US based researcher Dr. Henry Lai comments that there are several studies which show that repeated RF exposure at relatively low power caused morphological changes in the central nervous system, “changes in morphology, especially cell death, could have an important implication on health. Injury-induced cell proliferation has been hypothesized as a cause of cancer.“

Reading Between The Lines

The studies don’t tell all of the story. Here are some other things you need to know.

42. Latency Period Before Diagnosis: To put this in the words of researcher Dr. Martin Blank “cancers do not form overnight”. In almost all cases cancerous tumors take many years to form and metastasize” Dr. Martin Blank: Overpowered. This would suggest that we might be sitting on a cell phone radiation cancer time bomb.

43. Cell Phone Radiation Cancer Time Bomb: To give a sense to what this latency period could mean in terms of the incidence of brain tumors in the years to come, researcher Lloyd Morgan produced this alarming graphic showing that brain tumor cases could reach epidemic proportions within the next decade:

44. Flawed Research: Not all of the research points to a link between cell phone radiation and cancer. But then that’s hardly surprising given the lengths some researchers go to, to skew the results. This research paper also lays bare the phenomenon of study bias. This can take many different shapes and forms; insufficient latency time, incorrect definition of “regular” cellphone user, cell phones radiating higher power levels in rural areas not investigated, exposure to other transmitting sources not considered, exclusion of brain tumor cases due to death or illness, etc.

The Tip Of The Iceberg

There is lot of interest surrounding the link between cell phone radiation and cancer. But cancer is only the tip of the iceberg.

Microwave radio-frequency radiation exposures of the type emitted by cell phones are also linked to many other diseases and potentially life threatening illnesses, including: